THE REVISION OF THE ECHINI 115 



Echini." Although the robust vigor of his early youth 

 was shattered, he returned much improved in health, 

 and the next three years were quiet and happy ones, the 

 last he ever knew. At first he settled again in the little 

 house in North Cambridge, but as the dividends from 

 the mines at Calumet began to pour in, the condition 

 of his finances changed very materially. In the spring 

 of 1871 he hired " Shady Hill " of Professor Charles 

 Eliot Norton, who was then abroad. Since those days, 

 the estate, which lies close to the Museum, has been 

 divided, but at that time the pleasant, roomy, old-fash- 

 ioned house, resting on a low hill, looked over gently 

 sloping pastures to a miniature forest. 



In this charming setting the family remained until 

 the fall of 1873. Then, on Professor Norton's return, 

 Agassiz went back to his father's house, for a few 

 months as he supposed, while looking about for suitable 

 quarters. His summers were spent at some convenient 

 place on the New England coast, one of them in a little 

 farmhouse near Newport, Rhode Island, not far from the 

 spot that afterward became his home. At these seasons 

 he was constantly busy at his marine work, for which 

 he improvised a temporary laboratory wherever he hap- 

 pened to be. 



Among his other investigations at that time, his study 

 of Tornaria led to some interesting results. These small 

 animals, so called from their active habits, are found 

 among the many little creatures which float near the 

 surface of the sea. They bear a striking resemblance to 

 the larvae of the ordinary starfish of the New England 

 coast, and it was supposed that they were the young stage 

 of some genus of starfish. Acting on a hint from Met- 

 schnikoff, Agassiz was able to show that these animals 



